Robert Dyas goes up for sale

HIGH-Street ironmonger turned self-styled 'home and garden convenience store' chain Robert Dyas is up for sale in a deal which is likely to net millions for its bosses.

Nearly three years after they engineered an £8m management buyout from the Dyas family, retail veterans Roger Pedder and Brent Wilkinson could make a fortune if an auction breaks out for the 73-strong chain.

Analysts believe Robert Dyas could fetch up to £80m. Chief executive Wilkinson, a former WH Smith commercial director who spent most of his career at Kingfisher, said: 'Retail is a hot market and there's a lot of interest in us.'

The chain based in London and the South is due to publish half-year figures next week. They should put it on track for full-year underlying pre-tax profits of £8m on 'strong double-digit' like-for-like growth which could see sales come in at £85m.

DIY giants such as Kingfisher-owned B&Q or GUS-owned Homebase could see Robert Dyas as a way to get on the High Street, while venture-capital buyers could include Duke Street Capital, owner of Focus Wickes, and Bridgepoint Capital.

Wilkinson and chairman Pedder, head of the Clark's shoes empire, and two other directors, own 27.5% of Robert Dyas.

A Singer & Friedlander venture fund and Finnish backer Thominvest own another 27.5%, while 45% remains in the family of the company's eponymous Victorian founder.